Alexandria Rose
by MissyMaestro
Summary: With war with the Saviors looming on the horizon, Daryl needs something to motivate him to come back alive. It happens to walk right through the front gate and out of his past.


**Author's Note: Hi! This is a one-shot blob. I had this idea in my head about Daryl's motivation and why he is the way he is, so I wanted to get it out. (: Enjoy?**

"We aren't takin' in any more outsiders right now. We've got some questions for you. But I don't think you're one of the Saviors."

The sheriff and self-appointed leader of the community of Alexandria stood before a woman who'd been captured outside the city gates. She hadn't gone down easily, but had finally been overcome and dragged inside. Weapons and food were stored in her bag. Her scalp was caked with dirt. Grime had settled under her fingernails and given her a wild, primitive appearance. Underneath the filth, sometime before the virus had spread, she had likely been attractive: jet black hair, green eyes, and freckles.

Now she sat on her knees before the group. One black eyebrow arched suspiciously and a southern accent replied. "The _who?_ "

Rick shifted his weight. His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized her. "Are you Negan?"

The woman blinked. Confusion and mistrust mingled on her face. "Negging? I have no clue what you're talkin' 'bout. I told you: I've been on the move." She glanced from face to face. The guards who'd spotted her, the woman who'd clocked her in the mouth, and the man who'd finally overcome her and put her in an impressive headlock. Whether they could be trusted, she wasn't sure.

"On the move," Rick repeated, unconvinced.

Nodding, the woman spit out a mouthful of blood and wiped her mouth on the back of her arm. "Never stayed too long in one place. Couldn't. I _knew_ there had to be somewhere like this, though. Somewhere the fastest, smartest, strongest people would converge. I've done it mostly on my own. Now I'm just lookin' to-"

"Cassidy?"

The woman's mouth snapped shut and eyes opened wide. Sh stared into the crowd of Alexandrians. She'd know that voice anywhere. For years she imagined how she'd react if she ever heard it again. Longing wasn't what she'd expected. The black haired woman scowled and wondered if one of the blows to the head had given her a concussion.

"Daryl, you know this woman?" Rick asked in shock, turning to the man making his way to the front of the crowd.

Daryl Dixon, group muscle and archer, nodded solemnly. He shook the hair out of his face and walked silently to join Rick, his eyes never leaving the filthy stranger. The silent wonder about him caused his friends to exchange glances.

Before him, the woman attempted to stand. The slim yet fierce woman standing guard over her hit her in the stomach and barked, "Stay down!"

"Maggie," Daryl snapped, stepping forward.

She stepped back. "We don't know her. She had weapons. If she's made it on her own for this long-"

"Nah," Daryl grunted. "I know her. She's," he hesitated, "good." He turned and nodded to Rick.

The taller man gave the newcomer one more stern look before turning and bowing his head slightly to Daryl. "All right. She's with you, then." Something like amusement crossed his face. Even in this strange world, things could still come out of the blue and remind you what a small world it was.

Daryl stepped past Rick and grabbed her by the bicep, not daring to look into her face. "C'mon."

She recoiled, but his grip stayed firm. "How _dare_ you grab me!" she spat.

"Shut up and let's go, 'less you want tossed back out there. I'm sure Negan's group would love to have you for all the wrong reasons." Daryl grumbled. "C'mon." He roughly pulled her along, making note of how muscular her arm felt; very different from the other strangers that'd taken in, who all seemed frail.

"Let go of me," Cassidy hissed as she struggled behind him. "I ain' gonna attack you. If I did, you'd deserve it, though."

Daryl took a deep breath. "Yeah." Nonetheless, he released her and fell in stride next to her.

Silence fell over them. Curious faces peered out of windows and doorways as the couple walked past en route to Daryl's house. After his return from the Sanctuary, he'd gladly taken up the offer for his own house. Alexandria was it. Home. Might as well start acting like it.

When the silence grew painful, Daryl cleared his throat and mustered the strength to ask the question that had burned in his gut since seeing Cassidy's face again. "Did you have-?"

"I did." She stared straight ahead, her green eyes not even flickering toward him.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Daryl closed his eyes and slowed his pace. _Did._ Everything in this walker-infested world seemed to be in past tense.

They'd stopped walking and stood facing each other, Daryl staring at the ground and Cassidy's gaze boring into him.

"You stayin'?" he asked.

"Nowhere else to go," Cassidy shrugged. "I never thought I'd see you again after you left, but here we are. Shackin' up." At last, a smile graced her face. "Jesus. Daryl Dixon. After all this time. Figured you'd be president of the zombie apocalypse."

Daryl took it in. He wanted to smile, too, but couldn't. Not yet.

* * *

That night, Cassidy pushed open Daryl's bedroom door. "Hey?" she whispered.

He sat up with a start, squinting through the darkness and reaching for the rifle he kept beside the bed. "What's wrong?" he blurted. Realizing there was no immediate danger, he relaxed somewhat. "You need somethin'?" The gun clattered back against the wall.

"Nothin'," Cass answered, closing the door behind her and making her way toward him. She tossed back the bed sheet. "Can't sleep."

"What you doin'?" Daryl muttered sleepily as he settled back onto his elbows. Decade old memories flooded his senses. Her scent, which had always reminded him of fruit and flowers, filled his senses. It hadn't changed an iota.

At first he had worried that she was in Alexandria to kill him. Though he'd reasoned that she would never know he was there, he wouldn't have been surprised. He didn't completely discount that idea now. Ten years had passed since he'd walked out on her while she was sleeping and pregnant with his baby. Perhaps he deserved death at her hand. Cassidy Sims was a gorgeous girl he'd met at a bar and had no business being with. She was smart and funny, whereas he was a fuck-up who could barely hold down a job and had nothing going for him. Cass, on the other hand, was a month away from being a college graduate, was already entertaining job offers, and swore she was madly in love with him despite what her family said.

Merle had gotten arrested again on drugs charges, and the motorcycle shop they both worked at fired them. It hadn't been worth it for Daryl to argue for his job; that's how things worked. Merle got arrested and the Dixon Boys got a bad rep, even if Daryl had never been cited for so much as a speeding ticket.

As she'd slept on that Sunday night, her large belly sticking out of her sleeping shirt, something had clicked. Daryl watched her and tried to memorize every freckle on her face, every dark eyelash, the way her lips puckered slightly as she slumbered. He was leaving. It was the only way Cass and the baby could make it. He'd only drag them down and Daryl Dixon was so in love that he refused to let that happen.

"Just shut up," Cassidy whispered, jerking him back from memory lane. With a sigh, she nestled in and closed her eyes. "It was too quiet. I need to hear someone breathing or something."

Daryl debated embracing her. He didn't _deserve_ a chance to pull her close now. Heaving a sigh of his own, he stretched out on his back and tried to pretend the once love of his life wasn't there. "Night," he mumbled.

* * *

The next morning when he woke up, Cassidy was curled up, her head and arm resting on his chest. He could feel a drop of drool at the corner of his mouth.

"Hey," he muttered, tapping her shoulder. "Get up. I gotta go. Guard duty."

Cassidy jumped up. "Oh! I have to go, too." She brushed her hair out of her face and nodded. "What time is it? I need to go. Sun's up," she frantically said to herself.

"Go?" Daryl repeated. "You said you were stayin'."

"I have to go get something," she corrected herself. "I'll be back. Just give me a few minutes, maybe half an hour is all."

Daryl squinted at her as she jumped out of bed and hurried out of the room. "Get what? You got a weapons stash? Food? Need help bringin' it in?"

"Well, it's actually not a thing I'm getting. It's a person," Cassidy's voice came from her bedroom.

"A person?" Daryl growled, storming across the room in his boxers and toward her door. "You can't just bring people in here. We gotta check 'em out. Just because I know you don't mean anyone you bring is-"

Cassidy stood with her arms on her hips in the bedroom doorway. "It's your daughter, so yeah, I'm going to bring her in here without any fuss."

Blinking and drinking in the information, Daryl froze. His hands fell to his sides. "My daughter," he mustered. "She weren' with you yesterday, so I figued the kid didn't make it." He trailed off and bit his lip. A thousand shades of guilt washed over him; the same guilt that ate at him from the inside every waking moment of his life. The same guilt had shaped him to be better. To do better. To do more for those around him. Guilt for leaving his girlfriend and unborn kid. He hadn't even put a dent in that guilt, but Daryl knew without it, he may not have had the strength to do so much of what had kept him and his friends- no, family – alive this long.

"She'll be eleven in a month," Cassidy said. "Or a few weeks. I never thought to bring a calendar along when this started. What is it, October? Anyway, I told her I'd come for her in the morning, and if I didn't, to move on."

Daryl's temper exploded instantaneously. He snatched her wrists and pulled her close. "You left her outside by herself? Go get her! Tell me where she is and I'll-"

"She's perfectly capable of taking care of herself," Cassidy replied calmly.

"That's my _daughter,_ " Daryl breathed. In an instant, tears spilled down his cheeks and he fell to his knees. "My daughter." He sobbed loudly and openly.

"And she's fine out there while I scope it out in here. You think I was going to risk bringing her along? She has enough supplies and know-how to make it out there if something were to happen to me. The dead ones? Easy. She can handle herself. But people? No. People are the only ones to be afraid of in this world." Cassidy pursed her lips. "Do you trust these people enough for us to stay?"

Daryl nodded frantically. "Yes. It's safe here. Let's go get her." Snot, spit, and tears mixed on his face. For years he'd wondered about his child; whether he had a son or a daughter, if they were born healthy, and eventually, how they fared when walkers showed up. Now he'd been granted a daughter who survived the horrors of the new world, and she was outside the gates of Alexandria. "Please, don't leave her out there." His heart thudded in his throat and he felt like he wanted to both throw up and kiss her all at once.

Cassidy shook her head. "I just had to check it out. I didn't know her _father_ would be in here, and I needed to spend some time with the-"

Daryl cut her off. "Please. Bring her inside. There's fuckin' sick people out there." He wiped his face and took a few ragged breaths to calm himself. "Please. Let's get her. Please. We don' have to tell her I'm her father- we- just- please."

Cassidy considered the proposal. "All right. _I_ will go get her. I told her if anyone comes back with me, it was probably a trap and to run. If anything happens to her-"

"It won't," Daryl replied solemnly. "Over my dead body."

* * *

Daryl crossed his arms and sucked in a breath.

A girl, the spitting image of her mother, passed through the gates, the pistol in her hand at her side, but her finger on the trigger. Her eyes darted back and forth, never stopping; scanning back and forth for potential threats.

Rick glanced at Daryl knowingly. When Cassidy left to get the girl, Daryl had given Rick a heads up and an insight into who the raven haired woman really was. Now as Daryl struggled not to get misty eyes at the sight of his daughter, Rick watched him in affectionate interest.

When Maggie's hand whipped up from her side to tuck hair back behind her ear, the child's pistol swung up, snapping to aim on Maggie's chest.

"There's no need for that," Rick called out warmly. "You're safe here. We've talked to your mom. It's okay."

Cassidy nodded to her daughter, who holstered her gun and stepped closer to her.

Daryl's knees trembled. _My daughter. No,_ he reminded himself, _Cass's daughter. You gave away all rights to calling her that when you left._

"What's your name?" Rick called out.

"Go on," Cass urged the girl, who was still scanning the Alexandrians. "They checked out. An old friend is here. We can trust them." She looked up at Daryl before turning her attention back to her daughter.

The girl licked her lips before speaking. "Alex. Alexandria Rose Sims."

"Alex, huh? Looks like you're meant to be here," Rick grinned. "This place is called Alexandria, too."

The girl grinned and looked to her mom. Cassidy squeezed the back of her neck reassuringly.

"You'll be staying at Daryl's house. Everywhere else is a little tight. Why don't you go on and get washed up," Rick nodded. "A few of us will be by a bit later to show you around and how things work here."

Cass nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Grimes."

"Thank you, Mr. Grimes," Alex echoed. After a moment of studying Rick's face, the girl smiled. "You're one of the good guys, huh? We ain' seen many of those. Just bad guys and dead ones."

Rick glanced sideways at Maggie, then cracked into a wide grin. "That's right. We're the good guys. We're going to keep you safe in here. There are kids here, too. A little older than you, but my son Carl and his friend Enid are around here somewhere. I'll have them come say hi once you get settled in sometime this week."

"Cool," Alex smiled. She beamed up at her mom. Stretching up on her tip toes, she whispered, "Are we really staying here?"

"I think so," Cass replied. "It's what we've been lookin' for, isn't it?"

"Yeah!" Alex cheered.

Something warm swelled in Daryl's chest. "C'mon," he said, swooping down and picking up the duffle pack from the ground in front of Cassidy. "Home's this way."

* * *

When the Sims girls moved into the house, Daryl realized just how uncivilized he and the rest of Rick's group had been after their time out in the world.

Cassidy and Alex were on edge. Any time he left or entered the house, one of the girls seemed to materialize out of nowhere, gun drawn. During meals, they ate with almost impressive speed. When Alexandrians came to visit, one of the Sims always needed to be pacing, moving, watching out the windows.

The only time they weren't on edge is when they were taking hour-long baths and showers. When Cassidy had walked down the hall in just a towel, her hair clean and brushed out, Daryl had nearly choked on his tongue. She was beautiful and hadn't aged a day, let alone a decade. Cassidy kept a separate bedroom next to Alex's, but more often than not she came into Daryl's room just to have him there. He didn't mind having someone enjoy his company, but their relationship stopped at that point and went no further, as scandalous as late night visits felt.

Maybe it was because he _wanted_ to, but Daryl saw a lot of himself in Alex. She was quiet but observant, her eyes always switching around the room. He doubted she was sleeping at night yet, so he often found excuses to wake up during the night to wander the house. Bathroom. Glass of water. Double check the doors were locked. Read.

Occasionally Alex would scamper down the stairs and peek around the corner at him. "Oh, good. I knew I heard someone."

"I've got guard duty," he joked. "You can sleep. Ain' nothin' gonna come after you in here." Though the walls had been breached, he figured the girl didn't need to know. Daryl nodded toward her. "Your mom teach you how to shoot? Good form."

"How'd you know I had my gun?" She crept down the stairs and sat on the edge of a chair across from him in the living room.

"Y'always do." Daryl shrugged. "I remember what it was like tryin' to get used to a house again. It's weird, huh?"

"Yeah," Alex sighed. "I have dreams that things are coming in the house." She sat the pistol on the table. "It makes me feel safer."

Nodding, Daryl pointed to the fireplace. "Rifle hidden in the mantle. It's a secret shelf." Gesturing to the kitchen, he added, "Shit ton of knives." And of the coat closet, "my crossbow."

"That's smart. I like that." Alex nodded thoughtfully. After a moment of silence, she looked up to Daryl's face and lowered her brows. "How did you know my mom? She said you were an old friend. Old friend from Georgia?"

"Yeah," Daryl nodded. "I knew her when she was in college."

"Oh," Alex nodded. "Okay." Her gaze lingered on his face a little too long and Daryl knew what she was wondering.

"Why don't you go back to bed? Everything's locked up and we've got guards on the walls. You'll be safe." Daryl reached out and took her pistol. "This is a good gun. It'll keep you safe, even if everything else fails ya." He handed the gun back to her. "C'mon. Bed."

* * *

Two weeks had passed before Cassidy cornered Daryl in the kitchen. The stern look on her face had him wondering if she'd considered staying in Alexandria, pending their ongoing conflict with the Saviors.

"Sup?"

"Are we going to talk about it or not?" Cassidy sat at the bar and folded her hands beneath her chin. "I've been waiting for you to ask."

Truly, Daryl had been waiting for the topic of him leaving to come up. He'd practiced a dozen different ways to explain himself, but now the well-rehearsed words fell away and he spoke from his heart. "I didn' mean to leave. I mean, I did mean to, but- I didn't want to. I had to." Daryl forced himself to look up at her. "For you. For Alex."

Cassidy weighed the comment. "So why did you have to leave? Other woman? Criminal activity? Those were the two leading conspiracies about town, you know."

Daryl slammed his hands down on the counter. "I had everything, anything a man could want. I had it." He ran his hands through his hair. "No, there weren't no other woman and I wasn't in trouble. But I was goin' to screw your life up. I had to leave."

"That wasn't your choice to make," she replied calmly.

"It had to be because you weren't never gonna send me packin'." He turned toward the fridge and pulled out a pair of beers. He slid one across the counter toward her.

Cassidy grinned widely. "I wondered if you were savin' these for a special occasion or something. It's been years since I've had a beer. Even longer since I had a _cold_ one!" She cracked the bottle cap off on the edge of the counter.

"Nah, there's more in the pantry. Just not much of a drinker nowadays." He took a drink, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Ten years. Shit. Things turn out okay? Before all this? You get a good job?"

Cassidy grinned. "Yeah. I did. I was a sound engineer for a big event center in Atlanta."

Daryl nodded. "Good. She have everything she needed?"

"Yeah," Cassidy grinned. "Would have been easier if you were there. I missed you, you know?"

Daryl took a long drink. "You were better off. Believe me."

Rolling her eyes, Cassidy considered the hatchet buried and moved on. "I talked to Rick some about you."

Daryl looked up. "Why?"

Cassidy smiled. "Just wanted to know if you were still you. And I think so. Sounds like none of these folks would be here if it wasn't for you. Don't even try to deny it. Rick and Maggie couldn't stop singing your praises."

"Maggie?" Daryl blurted in shock.

"Yeah, says you've been together for a few years." Cassidy took a long drink of beer. "Lighten up. Life's too short. Especially now. I thought I hated you, Dixon."

Daryl shrugged. "Yeah. You should."

"Would you believe this? Here's what I wanted so bad when she was a baby. I wanted you to come home so we could be a family." She gestured to the house and laughed breezily. "Just took the goddamn end of the world for that to happen, and for us to all end up in the same place 600 miles from Georgia. Guess it's meant to be. I got my family."

A small gasp from around the corner made Cassidy raise an eyebrow. "Hey," she called. "If you're going to eavesdrop, you'd better learn to do it better."

Alex appeared at the bottom of the stairs and sheepishly walked toward them. A wide smile played at her lips. "Really? You mean it?" Her wide eyes focused on Daryl. "Really? _Really?"_

Unsure of how Cassidy wanted to spin their conversation, he looked to her for an answer.

She grinned and rolled her eyes. "Well, I guess now I don't have to try and figure out the best way to break the news to you." Cassidy finished her beer. "Meet your father."

The girl beamed and threw herself across the kitchen a Daryl. " _Daddy!"_ She collided with Daryl and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Are you my _real_ dad?"

"Yes, he's your real dad," Cassidy scoffed. "You think I just picked him off the street? We dated back in Georgia. He had to leave before you were born."

"I always wanted a dad!" Alex squealed, jumping up and down.

Daryl grinned sheepishly. "I'll be a good one. Swear."

* * *

That night, as Daryl awaited Cassidy's arrival, he tucked his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling in the dark.

He'd been waiting for something to fight for, to come home to. Hell, since Atlanta he'd been longing for someone to belong to. Rick and the group became his family, but they weren't his alone. Of course he belonged and loved everyone, but it hadn't been quite enough. Now that Cassidy and Alex had wandered in out from the wilderness, he had everything he'd wanted. Needed.

Though danger, war, and a whole lot of death await them as Negan and Rick both formed battle plans, Daryl wasn't scared. Life was good.


End file.
